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Priceline Hotel: Priceline San Juan resort rebidding 6/21/07-6/24/07


ccgw
By ccgw,
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I have several questions here. If after several days of rebidding for a resort in San Juan turns out to be unsuccessful, if I wait , say, a week, and then rebid, do I start at where I last left off, i.e. bid at a level higher than my last bid, or can I rebid starting "new" with a lower bid than my last, since I would expect inventory would have probably changed by then. Basically, I wonder if the system will remember my last bid for the same days at the same hotel level.

My family of 5 will be arriving in SJ 6-21-07( for a stay of three days pre-cruise. That means I would need two rooms which can be costly. So far I made the backup reservation for a two BR suite at the Embassy suites near the airport for the rate of $329 per night (before resort fee and taxes). That is equivalent to around $165 x two rooms,which is the rate for something like Sheraton Old SJ.

Correct me if I am wrong: are the resort level hotels pretty much the Intercontinental, Caribe Hilton and the Marriott? Can someone shed some light as to whether one may be stuck with dated rooms at these hotels with a priceline bid? I heard the Marriott has finished with their rennovations. How about the conditions of the rooms at the Hilton and Intercontinental?

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I have been checking the rates shown on both HOTWIRE and Priceline. On HOTWIRE, the 3.5 star customer favorite hotel price has been dropping now down to $139. I wonder if that is the Caribe Hilton? Priceline resort hotel pre-priced choices today is shrunk down to Caribe Hilton and Marriott. Does that mean bidding under resort at Priceline would pretty much be between these two in the city of San Juan? I wonder if the pricing will start moving now that we just entered the last month (less than 30 days) before check-in.

I have narrowed down my preferred hotels to either Caribe Hilton or the Marriott. I am hoping to get them for $115 or less(the better). I tend to favor Marriott a bit because of the convenience factor of neighboring shops and restaurants (within walking distance?). Not sure if you can walk to any neighboring establishments at the Hilton. It is hard to get a grasp of how the rooms are at either hotels because of mixed reviews from people with different expectations, and a lot of the review not being up to date. If I am correct, Marriott supposedly is finished with their renovations; I am assuming that they have also fixed the cabana units. Hotel room views I can live with a non ocean view as we are going on a cruise later in the week anyway. We just hope for nice clean rooms with decent room amenities. I don't know if the quality of rooms at the Hilton is that uniform. I have tried to stick with resort bids on priceline because the choice seems to be more narrow. Am I correct? Should I start trying to rebid now for the resorts under Priceline now that my last bid is over 24 hours. Can I try to bid for the same days restarting at a lower bid? and work upwards?

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On HOTWIRE, the 3.5 star customer favorite hotel price has been dropping now down to $139. I wonder if that is the Caribe Hilton?
What are the amenities associated with this property?
Priceline resort hotel pre-priced choices today is shrunk down to Caribe Hilton and Marriott. Does that mean bidding under resort at Priceline would pretty much be between these two in the city of San Juan?
See the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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1. " I have tried to stick with resort bids on priceline because the choice seems to be more narrow. Am I correct?"

You should know that not all hotels you see in the non-opaque version of PL participates in the bidding version. You could end up with a non reported hotel or a hotel that's not listed in the non-opaque version. also notice that the zones are diffrent in the non-opaque version.

2. "Should I start trying to rebid now for the resorts under Priceline now that my last bid is over 24 hours. Can I try to bid for the same days restarting at a lower bid? and work upwards?

Yes, you can start with any price you like and work your way upwards.

Do you only bid at the resort level? Please read this: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and learn about re-bid zones.

Allways start at the higher level an work your way down using your re-bid zones. You can't go from 3* to 4* but you can use your free zones and go from 4* to 3*.

And please remember to use savingsbarn.com link for Priceline

Good luck!

Henrik.

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The 3.5 star Hotwire resort amenities are:

Beachfront

Pool

Business Center

Spa

Fitness

Restaurant

Tennis nearby

In terms of number of beds in the rooms obtained via Priceline, it is up pretty much up to the discretion of the particular hotel, including smoking vs non smoking rooms. In our party of five, two adults ,kids age 15, 14, 10, is there a potential problem with hit with extra charges for the extra person or bed even if I bid for two rooms?

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Yes, I am trying to limit the bids to resort as , from the Priceline hotel list , it is easier to know the whereabouts of most of the resorts. If I go to a three star, I may end up in old San Juan which I do not want. Are most resorts pretty much beachfront? How updated is the hotel list?

For the resorts in San Juan, there are three free rebid zones. Does that mean I can have up to three rebid chances, or more? I have a bit of trouble understanding how to execute the permutation method i have read; can I revisit the single zone bid page(that I saved or opened in a separate browser page) after the first rebid failed, and add a different zone, or combination of different zones to increase the number of rebids to more than the three rebid zones?

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How updated is the hotel list?
See the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.
I have a bit of trouble understanding how to execute the permutation method i have read
Let us know your maximum bid (is it still $115?) and we'll outline a strategy for you to follow.

The HOTWIRE hotel you describe above is a match for the Caribe Hilton so that would be our best guess. Note that the beaches as the Caribe Hilton and the Wydham Condado Plaza are 'man made' on a bay/inlet and not a sprawling beach that you might imagine on the ocean.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I finally figured out the way to do the permutation free zone rebidding to allow seven extra free bids for 3 free rebid zones by restarting a new bid every time with different zone combinations.

As to the rebid max price, I am setting it at $100 per room if that is realistic. I am factoring in the potential problem with being stuck or assigned a single double bed room which can be rather unconfortable situation. I am hoping to start rebidding in the $70-$75 dollar range (and I'd prob get rejected!)

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With your maximum bid and three re-bid zones you can try as follows:

Select Resort San Juan...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $70, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select Resort San Juan...

Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $80, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select Resort San Juan...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone3...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bi dzone1...

Bid $100.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Can you tell me how does it work with the PR tax of 11% and the resort fee the hotel charges? Do you pay that while at the hotel or does Priceline collect part of it?

To get to the PRICELINE link, do I do it thru this site (I don't see the link on this page) or get onto the site for SavingsBarn.com.

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I understand that together with the bidding price Priceline will add the taxes, and "service fees". Are the service fees what Priceline charges for the transaction, and that these ARE NOT the resort fees that the resorts in San Juan charges?

The reason for this question is that with my recent bidding attempts, for the total hotel room bid of $450, the fees for taxes and services came up to approx. $90. That equates to 20% of the bid cost. San Juan has an 11% tax; does that mean the service fees charged by Priceline themselves is approx. 9%?

I know that still one usually gets a better price thru either Priceline or Hotwire than via direct hotel booking, but perhaps one has to be cognizant of the underlying cost, if that is what Priceline charges.

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I believe this was answered in your other thread:

The PR tax will likely be included in the "taxes and fees" portion of your priceline bid... any resort fees would be payable directly to the hotel upon check-out.

taxes are based on the portion of your bid that is remitted to the hotel, the balance is retained as a fee to Priceline.

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Yes, I realized the previous reply to the post about the hotel resort fees that you have to pay upon checkout.

What surprised me a bit is that I had assumed that the total cost will be the bidding price + taxes + resort imposed hotel service or resort fees. The additional cost here if one bids the room thru either priceline (and hotwire as well) is that there is also a booking fee charged, seemingly in the order of +/- 9%. Obviously that has to be factored in when one compares the cost of direct hotel booking vs bidded room(no refund prepaid). It was difficult to find out what Priceline or HOTWIRE charges as the booking fee on there websites, as they do not seem to post it. Of course you have to figure that out during the bidding process.

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Priceline shows you the total amount on the confirm page (where you doublecheck your dates, zones, star rating, etc) before you enter your credit card information. HOTWIRE shows you the total price if you click the "book now link" (again, before entering any credit card information)

For each, the fee comes to about $7/nite... the savings received thru each are usually much greater than this, so not usually too much of a factor, but of course you should know the rates of your 'direct booking' options to make sure you don't overbid.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I know this is a priceline thread. but I have a hotwire question (should I have posted this under the hotwire threads?)

Can you tell which the present listed hotwire 3.5 star hotel (San Juan) is?

Near Beach

Casino

Fitness center

Swimming pool

Restaurant

Business center

Hi speed internet

Retail: $145 now $129

Tried rebidding yesterday with same strategy up to $100 but not successful. Would retry when it gets closer to checkin date.

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This is the correct thread for your hotwire question as request that all posts for the same stay remain in the same thread... if you ultimately use HOTWIRE we'll then just move the entire thread to that section of the board.

The above is a match for the Radisson so that would be our best guess.

If you do book this please use our HOTWIRE link to begin any purchases you make.

Keep us updated on your progress.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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